


on a wednesday, in a cafe

by skatershelley (niamdox)



Category: Union J (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, JJ doesn't show up until the last half, M/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, blink and you miss it mention of george/jaymi sexing it up, george is mentally like 12 but what else is new, he is also kind of an asshole, honest to god the shensley was supposed to be on the side, idk - Freeform, is like a dating site for soulmates?, michael is a bigger part of this than intended, sorry - Freeform, the 5SOS fandom got me hooked on these curse them, this thing called SoulmateSearch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-28 07:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2724605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamdox/pseuds/skatershelley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Josh thinks that is really isn't fair. Tattoos that just show up anytime you're within fifty feet of your soulmate.</i>
</p>
<p>Union J soulmate AU where Josh is pissed that he can't find his soulmate after his tattoo shows up at the tube station, George and Jaymi are unhelpful little shits, and Michael Clifford somehow solves everyone's problems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	on a wednesday, in a cafe

**Author's Note:**

> So I started this back in October and sometime last month I found it and started working on it again. I wanted to write something other than Shensley. I sort of succeed.
> 
> Michael Clifford is here because I need a 5SOS/UJ bromance in my life and the fact that this picture exists and I want it enlarged and plastered on billboards everywhere. (Made better by the fact I have the same poster, aye)
> 
> Don't know where it came from but it is my lovechild.
> 
> Anyway. Unbeta-ed as always so sorry for any mistakes!

Josh thinks that is really isn't fair. Tattoos that just show up anytime you're within fifty feet of your soulmate. His had shown up at the same time George's had and George had met Jaymi, even though he has a billion and one other tattoos that don't come and go with George.

Somehow, George had spotted Jaymi and his identical tattoo, a wavy music staff with five notes of what they later discovered to be a simple tune, from across the platform amidst the crowd of people and Jaymi's other tattoos. Josh finally found them fifteen minutes later, lost in conversation and completely oblivious to the fact they were about to miss the train. As it turned out, Jaymi was scheduled for the same ten o'clock train into London, letting the two of them carry on their conversation while Josh continued his scan through the faces and tattoos from inside the train.

As the train pulled out of the station, the dark ink on Josh's arm began to tingle gently, and he watched miserably as it slowly faded from sight the farther from the station the train pulled him.

That'd been almost a month ago. And since then, Josh, George, and now Jaymi were at the same tube station, waiting for the same train, with the same crowd of tired people every morning. And yet, Josh's tattoo hadn't appeared again. He was starting to think that he'd missed his one chance in his entire life to meet his soulmate and since he blew it he was destined to live out the rest of his days alone with thirty-seven cats, listening to George and Jaymi's sickeningly sweet soulmate-yness.

Josh was pretty sure he would rather fall onto the track and get hit by their morning train.

"Maybe they're a tourist," George offered one morning in the midst of the third week, on a day where Josh was looking particularly miserable. "Tourists pass through the tube all the time. Maybe you have an American soulmate. Or maybe Spanish. I hear Canadians are rather lovely."

"I know a nice bloke from Italy. If they're Italian, you'd never have to worry about being hungry, I bet." Jaymi chimed in, sending Josh a smile from beside George. 

Josh really hated how likable Jaymi was. It made resenting him too difficult.

"And what are the chances of my ever meeting them if they're a tourist?" Josh asked. Maybe he came off just a bit cross, because George and Jaymi exchanged nervous, uncomfortable looks with each other. Josh excused himself to the restroom to wallow in his own self-pity in private.

Despite the questionable cleanliness of the tap, Josh splashed some water on his face to try and collect his thoughts. And then, he saw it. In his reflection he saw a tattoo on his forearm that hadn't been there ten minutes ago. He quick took a picture and sent it to George, typing in all caps for him and Jaymi to get looking.

The morning crowd seemed to get denser the second Josh leaves the bathroom, and navigating the sea of bodies more treacherous. He thinks it must all be in his head, but it doesn't make it any less stressful. He scans the arms of every person he passes for a matching mark, some sort of bird with its wings spread like it's in mid flight. But at five 'til ten, he's still had no luck and the train's been called and he really wants to just ditch work and keep scouting the station.

George finds him before he can do that, though. A few taps and his shoulder and he stupidly gets his hopes up that his soulmate found him first, only to be disappointed when he turns around and sees it's only his best mate. And apparently visibly so at that, because soon George is talking and saying, "I know you're looking for someone and all, but you don't have to look so heartbroken to see me." Jaymi swats his arm and gives him a stern look.

"We really need to get going, Josh. I'm really sorry." It's Jaymi this time, which doesn't help much at all, but Josh doesn't argue because in the past month Jaymi has somehow taken on a leadership role in their little troop. The twinge of sadness Josh feels while being tugged along the platform when he feels his tattoo start to disappear is even worse the second time.

* * *

All three of them have Saturdays off and spend them lounging around their shared flat. Josh is still down in the dumps from his missed connection the morning before, so when he hears the headboard next door his against his wall, he's about ready to scream at George and Jaymi to knock it off and not act so couple-y around him. By the time little grunts and moans reach his bedroom, Josh decides he needs to take a walk.

He doesn't even bother changing out of his sleep clothes, just pulls on his hoodie and walks out the door. He doesn't have a particular route in mind, but ends up walking to the rent office and getting the mail, taking an extra long time chatting with the various neighbours that come through and not leaving to go back upstairs until he's sure it's safe.

Upon arrival home, Josh finds George at the table eating scrambled eggs at a rate that barely seems human while Jaymi stands at the stove with a frying pan of bacon.

"I made eggs."George chirps when he spots Josh, pointing at a plate across from him and beaming with the same sort of pride as a six year old.

"Peace offering for driving you out earlier," Jaymi says sheepishly. " Sorry 'bout that."

Josh shrugged, set down the mail and tucks into breakfast. Which was surprisingly good considering Jaymi's inability to cook much of anything and George's impatience to let anything cook long enough. Even goes for seconds on the eggs, and that  _really_  pleases George, who starts beaming all over again as if to gloat about his egg scrambling abilities. It's cute, even Josh has to admit that. Even when Jaymi leans over and pecks George's cheek.

Mercifully, they go out for the afternoon. They offer to let Josh come, but he's sick of being the third wheel so he passes. Makes up some lame excuse that he doubts either of them buys, but they leave nonetheless. Giving Josh the freedom to do whatever he passes.

And with that freedom, he goes on SoulmateSearch. It's mostly used by thirty-somethings who swear by the grace of God that they saw their soulmate this  _one time_ in their uni english class twenty or so years ago.

But then, there are the people like Josh, who saw their tattoo, but not their soulmate.

The hope is that your soulmate or someone who knows them will see your post and solve the mystery. Like Facebook, but for the soulmate-less. It's hit or miss, but what's he have to lose? He uploads the photo of his tattoo he sent to George and explains how it's shown up twice at the tube station around half nine near the platform for the London bound train, puts in his contact info, hits post and waits.

But the waiting is agony. Brutal agony that has him refreshing his email every five minutes and nearly having heart attacks when a new message pops up until he sees that it's actually spam or a newsletter he'd forgotten he was subscribed to. Suddenly, shopping with the lovebirds doesn't seem like a half bad idea.

Eventually he ends up watching a BBC nature film about the creatures of the deep sea or something like that because there's nothing on TV, and something as mind numbingly boring as the various types of barnacles is just what he needs. Not an hour into it, and Josh is fast asleep on the couch.

 *********

He wakes up an hour later to his ringing cell phone and a man with a thick Irish accent detailing his friend's bird tattoo on his chest. It turns out to be a bust because a, there are two birds and b, they're always there.

"He's got'ta big ugly moth on 'ere too, ya' got one'a those?" The Irish kid asks, and apparently this is riotously funny because he starts cackling on the other end while someone else, Josh assumes it's the friend with the bird tattoos, yells something that may or may not have been  _'it's a BUTTERFLY!'_  Josh hangs up before he can find out for sure. A butterfly that maybe looks like a moth doesn't sound any less ugly than a regular old moth to him.

*********

He doesn't get any other calls, but he does get an email from a guy named Michael. Michael doesn't come off as jokingly as the Irish boy. He actually sounds dead serious as he details a coworker of his. Apparently, they aren't close, or even acquainted, but he'd overheard a story over the water cooler about his coworker's tattoo showing up at the subway station then disappearing right after the nine AM train had left. As he reads, Josh's heart starts to hammer in his chest. His hand is actually shaking as he types out a reply.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you it's not safe to meet a stranger you heard about on the internet?"

Josh jumps what feels like two feet in the air and lands flat on his bum on the floor. When he looks up, George is standing behind the couch, hands covering his mouth in a futile attempt to suppress his giggles. Jaymi is standing a few feet behind him, eyes wide, staring at the both of them in surprise. Josh wants to yell at George, but he doesn't. He takes a few seconds to collect himself before reprimanding him.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's rude to sneak up behind people and read their emails?"

"Touche," George says and jumps over the couch to help Josh up.

Jaymi's taken George's spot behind the couch is forgoing letting Josh explain in favor of reading over the email himself. Judging by the look on his face Josh is preparing for a lecture about stranger danger, so he's actually surprised when that doesn't happen.

"This bloke found you on  _SoulmateSearch_?" He gives Josh a look of disbelief, which turns into a smirk when Josh nods. " _SoulmateSearch_. You're desperate, mate. We're coming with you."

"I don't want to get murdered!" George's voice goes all high and squeaky, like it always does when he's scared.

Josh sounds just about as enthused with the idea. "I don't need a body guard."

"Not a body guard, jus' moral support. Nobody's getting murdered as long as it's somewhere crowded."

"Crowded's how I got into this mess in the first place."

"You know what I mean. Coffee shop or some'at."

George perks up a bit at the mention of a coffee shop. Like he's okay with getting murdered as long as he gets his coffee and a cookie first. Josh on the other hand, still doesn't look impressed.

"We'll stay at the other end. Won't even know we're there."

"If I say fine, will you two stop reading my emails?" Josh sighs in defeat, and George and Jaymi nod simultaneously in agreement.

* * *

The Michael boy sets everything up between Josh and his friend for the next Wednesday at the tube station Starbucks when they all have a day off, and come that Tuesday, Josh is as nervous as he's ever been.

He's got his flatmates sat on the couch all afternoon while he tries to decide on his clothes and what to say, even makes George and Jaymi drill him after he decides so he's certain not to mess up. Even after Josh promised himself for the whole week that he wasn't going to get his hopes up, he can't help but do exactly that, and nobody seems to have the heart to remind him of that. Besides, it's sweet to watch him get all excited instead of mope around the flat for once. At least Jaymi thinks so.

"It's sickening." George insists once Josh is out of earshot, back to digging through his closet to find a nicer pair of jeans to go with his Nirvana shirt.

"He's young and in love, Georgie."

"He hasn't even met the lad."

"I felt the same way about you before I met you." Jaymi smiles fondly, wraps his arm around George's shoulder and gives him a squeeze.

George, in return, points down his throat and makes a strangled gagging noise.

"And they say romance is dead." Jaymi says dryly.

* * *

Come Wednesday morning, the sky is grey and it's pouring rain. The kind of weather that, when paired with the dim lights and slow music of a coffee shop, would dampen even the most cheerful person's mood. As is not the case on the particular dreary morning.

Even from across the room, Josh's nervous energy can be felt in full force. And it seems to have rubbed off of on Jaymi and George as well, because Jaymi's leg in jumping under the table and George is on his third cookie of the morning. Josh is craning his neck to watch out the window for any sign of the person that Michael described in one of his emails: kind of short, dark hair, a few tattoos up and down his arm. In between watching out the window, he's checking his watch. Seeing if it's past half nine yet and assessing whether or not he's been stood up.

The clock is just starting to tick past the agreed upon time when two people rush in from the rain, the taller of the pair's hood blew back in his rush, revealing bright red hair that looked out of place in a room full of businessmen and women. His companion managed to keep a hat on his head, but he's hunched over in an attempt to catch his breath.

Josh feels his arm start to tingle. He turns around and eyes Jaymi and George across the shop frantically, damn near terrified actually. They both smile in return and George gives him two thumbs up, mouths  _"good luck,"_  and returns to his cookie. Before Josh even has a chance to turn around, the red haired boy stands up on a chair and cups his hands around his mouth. His friend looks horrified.

"IS THERE SOMEONE HERE NAMED JOSH CUTHBERT?" He yells in a thick Australian accent, and Josh feels every eye in the room land squarely on him. Most likely because his friends are still watching him and people tend to be like sheep in situations like this.

The red-haired boy takes this as an answer and gets down from his chair, leading his embarrassed friend over to Josh's table.

"This is JJ," He says, not one for small talk obviously. "JJ, this is Josh."

Without warning, JJ's coat sleeve is pushed up to reveal what, sure enough, is a bird tattoo. Identical to Josh's. In return, Josh rolls up his own sleeve. He thinks he hears a lady somewhere  _aww_  at them, but he can't be sure over the thud of his heart in his chest.

By default, the obnoxious red haired lad must be Michael, who's smirks like he's pleased with himself. "I believe my work here is done," He says, claps JJ on the shoulder, and much to George and Jaymi's horror, makes his way to the table across the room. Says something to them, a question of some sort, before helping himself to a seat at their table and one of George's cookies. 

They don't appear to be in too much imminent danger, and Jaymi can take care of himself, so Josh turns back to JJ. He opens his mouth to say something, but can't seem to find any words. Instead he motions to the chair on the other side of the table, urging JJ to sit down.

********

It takes a little while for them to get warmed up and over the awkwardness of their introduction. But once it starts, it happens quickly. Like they've known each other their whole lives, and they're just doing a bit of catching up after a few years apart.

"At least we have a good story to tell, 'eh? I mean, how many people can say they were introduced to their soulmate by a loudmouth Aussie with bright red hair?" Josh jokes and takes another bite of his muffin from the assortment of food their friends sent over to them.

For some reason or another, JJ finds this riotously funny. Enough so that he tosses his head back and needs a few seconds to catch his breath after he quiets down. Other patrons tapping away at their laptops give them dirty looks over the rims of their glasses, but Josh finds it charming. He doesn't even bother to hide the grin that appears on his face. 

"He's somethin' inn'it he? Think he scared your mates over there." He's still chucking when he points to the individuals in question. Jaymi still looks wary of Michael, but he's still being polite as always. George is stuck to Jaymi's side, actually quiet for once in his life. Michael doesn't seem to have noticed as he appears to be telling some grandiose story complete with elaborate body language.

"Ah, they'll live. Knock 'em off their high horse a few pegs." Josh smirks, and launches into a story of his own about the three of them and the time they all went to see The Purge after midnight.

* * *

It's after three in the afternoon when the Starbucks manager finally kicks them out. They're surprised they were allowed to stay as long as they were, honestly. Between laughing and yelling, not to mention loitering, most places would have gotten rid of them ages ago. Not a minute too soon either, because Josh was out of money to buy coffee and tip baristas and George was either going to go into a sugar coma or explode from sitting still for so long.

JJ and Josh rejoin their friends on the sidewalk and make the rounds of introductions on the walk to drop JJ and Michael at the bus stop a few blocks away. Michael even apologizes for embarrassing everyone and stealing cookies, which according to JJ is a rare occurrence.

"Michael apologizing for something is like finding a unicorn in the wild," JJ explains, keeping his voice low and quiet sort of like the narrators on nature programs. "Very rare and precious. You must be careful not to scare it." 

The whole group gets sent into giggle fits, that don't stop until the bus pulls up to the curb and goodbyes for the afternoon. With Josh and JJ promising over and over to call when they get home until JJ is literally dragged up the steps and onto the bus. A few seconds later, the vehicle lurches and pulls away, leaving Josh, Jaymi and George to watch it disappear along with Josh's tattoo. And for the first time, Josh is smiling as he watches it fade.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @hensley5sos  
> tumblr: fckedniam.tumblr.com


End file.
